


and you let him go

by wolfwithpanthereyes



Category: Star Trek: Alternate Original Series (Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Break Up, Established Relationship, Implied Sexual Content, M/M, Minor Spock/Nyota Uhura, Soulmate-Identifying Marks, and I do mean minor it's a tiny mention
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-14
Updated: 2017-08-14
Packaged: 2018-12-15 06:58:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,004
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11800827
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wolfwithpanthereyes/pseuds/wolfwithpanthereyes
Summary: The soulmate of James T Kirk is not Leonard McCoy.





	and you let him go

Leonard discovers the mark when he’s at eye level with Jim’s groin in one of the _Enterprise’s_ storage closets, which is a hell of a way to discover something of such importance. His fingers still in the waistband of Jim’s standard-issue uniform pants and he peers closer, until his nose bumps against Jim’s hipbone. 

“Bones, what the hell are you-”

“You’ve a soul mark!”

Soul marks aren’t as common as they once were – around one in ten of the human population possess them nowadays, while the other nine-tenths just have to hope they get lucky. Leonard is one of the nine-tenths but he’s also seen enough marks during his career to place one instantly. This one ghosts Jim’s hipbone, a swirl of ink-dark skin no larger than Leonard’s pinky nail in a pattern that is unique to Jim and... someone else. Someone out there. 

“Well, yeah,” Jim says with a shrug, as his hand curls tighter in Leonard’s hair. “You gonna hurry up there? We’ve got like ten minutes until I need to get back on the Bridge and I wanna have my chance to return the favour.” 

“You’ve a _soul mark_ ,” Leonard repeats incredulously. “Dammit, Jim, you could’ve told me!”

“Booonnees…” Jim wheedles out. 

Leonard grumbles and rubs the pad of his thumb over the mark, committing the swirl to memory (the design reminds him of the shape of the _Enterprise_ , how fitting, maybe Jim can claim the ship for a soulmate) before returning to unbuttoning Jim’s pants.

——-

Leonard can’t stop touching the mark when they grasp at each other in the confines of Jim’s quarters, as he grips Jim’s hips and Jim moans underneath him. Can’t stop brushing his thumb over it as Jim lies beside him afterwards, all sated and sleepy. If Leonard keeps touching it, maybe, it might just be revealed as dirt or ink, might leave a dark smear on Jim's hip and a matching smudge on Leonard's skin. 

“It’s no big deal, Bones,” Jim says, voice as content as his smile. “Just a mark. ‘sides, what’re the odds I ever find its match?” 

Leonard pretends to briefly consider this. The truth is he's thought about nothing else all day.

“High. Marks attract each other like magnets. It's documented.”

“You’re no fun.” Jim rolls over, catching Leonard’s chin and tilting him into a kiss. Leonard considers pulling away and arguing his case further but Jim’s mouth is warm and inviting, and Leonard was never good at resisting what he wants. 

Somewhere, Jim’s soulmate is probably out looking for him. They could be on the ship. They could be on any of the planets the _Enterprise_ will dock at. 

But they’re not here now. Tonight, Jim belongs to Leonard, and his soulmate can be damned for all Leonard cares. 

——-

Leonard was right. He hates himself for it. 

Crew members pass through the sickbay at a regular rate for physicals. Each time, Leonard makes a point of subtly checking their hipbones, just in case. He finds other soulmarks on other parts of their anatomy, but nothing even vaguely resembling Jim’s. Weeks roll by and Leonard’s heart begins to lift, he lets himself believe that maybe Jim is right. 

And then Spock is injured. 

“A rockslide,” Chekov says breathlessly, as he helps Leonard haul the unconscious Vulcan onto a sickbed. Spock is heavier than he looks, and Leonard makes a quick mental note to book him in for a routine physical with M’Benga once he’s all fixed up. “Caught us off guard! He got the worst of it, we think-“

Together, under Leonard’s instruction, they carefully work Spock’s regulation shirt off. The skin underneath is pale and tinged with green, as expected of a Vulcan, with the beginnings of bruises blossoming along his lower ribcage. Leonard is already plotting the location of the discolourings as he passes the tricorder over Spock’s torso, and then his brain suddenly stops. 

There’s a dark mark showing just above the waistband of Spock’s pants. 

“Doctor?” Chekov says worriedly, and Leonard remembers to breathe.

“Broken rib, yes, looks like it,” he says hastily. “Go fetch M’Benga for me, he should be in his office.” Better safe than sorry when it comes to Vulcans. 

Chekov scampers off. Leonard watches him go, then slips a finger under Spock’s waistband and tugs it down gently, enough to expose the rest of the mark.

It matches Jim’s perfectly. 

——

He tells Jim. Of course he does. 

“Oh,” Jim says, once Leonard has assured him that yes, Jim, I’m serious, stop laughing and realise your damn soulmate is your _first officer_. “That’s. Yeah, I. Didn’t see that one coming.” 

“Me neither,” Leonard says, speaking past the lump in his throat. “Congrats, I guess.”

“Yeah,” Jim says absentmindedly. “Huh. Spock and me.”

“Yeah,” Leonard echoes, and he feels like he’s fallen overboard, the rope connecting him to Jim slipping through his fingers. 

Jim must see it in his face, because his hands reach for Leonard’s. “This doesn’t change things between us though, right? Hell, Spock’s got Uhura, I don’t even need to say anything to-”

“I’m needed in Sickbay,” Leonard says bluntly and he turns his back and walks away, lets go of the rope of his own free will.

——

He avoids Jim after that. It’s a cliche, but he throws himself into his work, grateful for any distraction he can find. He changes the code to his quarters and he wakes with his cheek on bare mattress, the pillow clenched between his arms. 

Jim tries. Jim commands him to the bridge; he shows up in sickbay shoving papercuts and mild coffee burns in Leonard’s face. Leonard scolds him for hurting himself so carelessly, but otherwise refuses to make anything other than small talk. 

Your soulmark helps you find your soulmate. Jim’s soulmark matches Spock’s, therefore the two are soulmates. Leonard doesn’t fit into this picture. Leonard was shoved out of his last relationship; this time he’s taking the choice into his own hands and choosing to walk away. 

Jim’ll thank him one day.


End file.
